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Residential Treatment Centers (RTCs) are psychiatric institutions that are designed to care for, treat and educate children whose problems are so severe and chronic that they require an environment that is supervised 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While most youth can be served in their homes and communities, others have more complex issues and at times may pose a danger to ..

Bullying can have both short- and long-term effects on everyone involved. While most research on bullying has been about children and adolescents who have been bullied, those who bully others are also negatively impacted. There is even research that shows witnessing bullying can impact us.
This National Bullying Prevention Month learn more about the consequences of ..

“Stay encouraged.”
If you talk to MCF Family Peer Support Specialist Sherri Allen by phone or email, you’ll hear these words at the end of the conversation. It’s one way she reminds you that, no matter how hard things feel now, she’s there to support you in staying hopeful.
You’ll hear that same message of hope—in their own words—from every member of MCF ..

Last month we shared examples of stigmatizing language around substance use disorders (/blog/changing-stigmatizing-language-around-substance-use-disorders) and changes we can each make to our language to help combat stigma. There is also language around mental health disorders that is stigmatizing. We each have an opportunity to make changes to the words we use in describin ..

Thank you to more than 600 local school (https://www.childrensmentalhealthmatters.org/school-champions/2018-school-champions/) and community (https://www.childrensmentalhealthmatters.org/school-champions/2017-community-champions/) champions. This year’s Children’s Mental Health Matters! Campaign (http://www.childrensmentalhealthmatters.org/) raised awareness of the importan ..

Eating disorders can affect people of every age, gender, race and socioeconomic group, yet the average age of onset is quite young: 12-13 years. For this reason, it is important for families to be knowledgeable about the disorders.
Eating disorders are more prevalent among females than males – 3.8 percent of women are affected versus 1.5 percent of men. National surveys e ..

There are a host of things that families of youth with mental health disabilities (those who qualify for special education services or accommodations) need to think about as they prepare for their child’s transition from the world of high school to the world of continuing education and/or employment. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) published a transition guide ..

The Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) has announced that it will be offering services under the new Family Supports Waiver. The program will provide individual and family supports for children birth to age 21 with developmental disabilities on the DDA Waiting List.
DDA expects services under the Waiver to start by February 2018, which will reduce the waitin ..

Did you know that approximately 15 percent of middle and high school students have reported engaging in non-suicidal self-injury? Rates among college students are even higher, and have been estimated at 17-35 percent. “Non-suicidal self-injury” is the term used to describe any physical intentional harming of oneself without the goal of suicide. It is also sometimes referred to ..

In May we answered the question, “what is family peer support (http://www.mdcoalition.org/blog/have-you-ever-wondered-what-is-family-peer-support).” This month we are sharing the story of one family who received family peer support from MCF through Targeted Case Management (TCM) Plus (http://www.mdcoalition.org/blog/a-new-service-targeted-case-management-tcm-plus), ..

Do you need help accessing services?

Our trained staff, who themselves have cared for a loved one with mental health, substance use or gambling issues will work one-on-one to help you
understand the services available in your community and how to access them.